Rock, pop, country singers to headline Boston benefit concert

May 03, 2013|Reuters

May 3 (Reuters) - Boston bands Aerosmith and New Kids on theBlock, singer-songwriter James Taylor and country singer JasonAldean will headline a concert to benefit the victims of lastmonth's Boston Marathon bombing, organizers said on Friday.

The May 30 concert at the city's TD Garden arena is alsoaimed at showing support for the people of Boston after thebombing that killed three people and injured 264.

Other artists lined up for "Boston Strong: An Evening ofSupport and Celebration" include singers Jimmy Buffett andCarole King, the band Boston and the J. Geils Band, concertpromoters Live Nation and TD Garden said.

"Like so many other proud Bostonians who have been extremelygenerous, we are honored to step up and do our part to help thevictims and their families," said Donnie Wahlberg of former boyband New Kids on the Block.

"Hopefully this event will not only raise money, but spiritsas well," Wahlberg said in a statement.

Boston-born Taylor said, "Everyone involved has respondedfrom the heart in a spontaneous and simultaneous desire to bethere and to do what we can for the city we love."

All proceeds from the concert will go to The One Fund, whichwas set up by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and BostonMayor Thomas Menino. Tickets priced from $35 to $285 go on saleon Monday.

The two bombs that exploded near the finish line of theBoston Marathon on April 15 were the worst attack on U.S. soilsince the Sept. 11 2001, attacks.

Suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout withpolice four days later. The ethnic Chechen's younger brother,Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was wounded in the April 19 shootout, isbeing held in a nearby prison facility.